Newspapers / The Clayton News (Clayton, … / Feb. 29, 1956, edition 1 / Page 1
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Commemorating Clayton's 100th Anniversary VOL. 43 NO. 9 Centennial Edition 25c Published Wednesdays by The County Press CLAYTON, N. C. FEB. 29, 1956 r I if x-:v:w:::v:-- : A - 5 p. r i 1 1 Si v CLAYTON'S MAIN STREET IN 1956 100 years after the town was named. This Has Always Been "Sport sTown By Connie Hicks game against Cherryville, he bat- all its days Clayton ted in the winning run again. "Peg" was oorn. anu raisea in uie cuunuy Through folks have loved athletic competi tion. Although three major wars and one heartbreaking local tragedy have dimmed the luster of local sports battles through the century past, the "dim-out" was temp orary. Clayton folks have earned and maintained a reputation for lusty and loyal team support. While baseball and several of its sandlot variations were popular for many years prior to the advent of organized inter-scholastic sports a few miles from Clayton. In his following year he took his team all the way. Bill Nichols followed Stringfield By this time .basketball was gain- Clayton Was Created By Settlements Uniting Names of several settlements out of the past must be included in any history of early Clayton. Each, in its time, was a center of activity and helped advone the the countryside during- the years before Clayton was given its name on Jan. 30, 1856. Such names as Hinton's Quarter, Roxborough, Stallings Station and Gulley's Store are the principal ones. The first settlers came into the area probably about 1740, clearing land under warrant from the roy al governor. By 1746 enough were in the area that the Colonial As sembly decided that Craven Coun ty, in which this section was in cluded, should be divided in two. Thus Johnston County came into existence with the courthouse in Walnut Cove. A division of John ston was made in 1759 with John ston taking in its present area and high school days, there were few; ing in popularity in this area if any restrictions regarding sub-! Even the girls had begun to play sidization of athletes. He recalls inter-scholastically. Among Clay Cary, with an eye to business, built a two-story house near the courthouse and secured a license to keep a tavern there and dur ing the years acquired many acres. Daring the years 1759 to 1771, court was held on the "last Tues days in March, June, September and Decembr" by Assembly or der. Fop access to the county seat, new roads were laid out. One crossed the Neuse at the pre- Wake County also and the new j gcnt Smithfield site to join the county taking the old courthouse, j River Road to New Bern, and When a new courthouse location j others wore laid out to the west was sought in 1758, William Hinton and north. offered two acres of land free. The i In mi Wake was formed out land he offered is in the vicinity Tvot or,,i ncmi tho rmirt. that Benson school paid his board; ton women wno piayea udsneiudii Just norm oi tne present vv. ri. n0use was moved this time to a and tuition for a while and he went I in the early and mid-twenties are Peele Co. The justices appoint-1 riverside iot offered by John to school there and played ball! Annie Belle Barbour, Massey and ed to find a location accepted his Smith, Jr.. at the site of for them. When Clayton made a! Pauline Smith Coats. They recall offer. Before the courthouse vasjtho Neuse forrv crossing. With similar offer which he liked better i that Clayton grils were "so-so built however Hinton sold his land (he reiOCation of the court, Hin- he transferred to Clayton. This 1916 state title was the firs of several for Clayton teams. Ac c ording to John T. Talton, Clayton high school also won the state and don't even remember their to Nathaniel Cary. The building: ton-s Quarter settlement faded a coaches, since a succession of will-; was built on Cary's land but the! way and tavern keeper Cary sold ing but untrained high school teach-i settlement that sprang up in its nis iarr0 holdings and moved to r'nmnptitinn in .Tnhnst.nn fmintv it. j j championship in 1922 and 1926 was not until the second decade of , this century that records wera kept and titles vied for. And in 1916, the Clayton high school base ; ball team won the state champion ship for the first time. Jesse Ellis, still remembered as an excellent coach, trained the 1916 and 1922 teams. He died early in 1924. His successor was Vann String D. ers undertook to direct them. An-! area was called Hinton's Quarter. nie Belle recalls, "I do remember that we defeated a good Garner team one year and we were mighty proud of that." In Next Issue Because of limited space and because additional copy for the There were no gymnasiums, as; Centennial Edition came in at the Played In Warehouse "Peg" Poole played on; field, who came to Clayton ini such, in the county at that time that team. Old-timers recall that, 1924 and coached here for about in the game with Raleigh for the ; eastern championship, he hit a home run "over the fence" at the! Chapel Hill ball park, for the win- championship but lost to Shelby ning run. In the championship! in a game for the state title. The three years. His first team, in the spring of 1925, won the eastern Paeton Stallings, a native of Sel- ma, played basketball on the Sel- ma team from 1930 through 1933 1 (Continued on Page Eleven) j last minute, this paper contains only feature articles. Nevt week the News will run regular news and correspondents' copy which had to be omitted this week. the western part of the state. The building was still standing in the mid-nineteenth century. Gulley's Store Another tiny settlement grew up near the old courthouse and the Round House plantation in the early 1940's. In December 1845 a post office was opened in a store operated by Needham Gulley. The office was probably established to serve a rural area and located in (Continued on Page Five) 33B COVERED BRIDGE STOOD UNTIL 1938 A pre CiTil War covered bridge crossed the Neuse river about four miles from Clayton on the road to Archer's Lodge, and it stood until 1938. That year highway engineers tore down the covering, but left the footing because they "could not build a better one." Ephriam Ferrell, a rel ative of Banks Ferrell who lives in Clayton today, came to Johnston County in 1860 and began building the bridge. He left to serve the Confederacy and returned to complete it. The bridge replaced a Neuse river fording on a main route used by the stage, floating the coach and horse across. Later a windlass-operated ferry was in oper ation and was replaced by the bridge. (Photo courtesy of Charles Barden) 0 y -&:-t:-:-: - ' - , f- : :-:-:w:-:-v ; if li 4m, v."-" ' r i V ' BOARD OF DIRECTORS After a meeting of the Board of Directors of the Clayton Banking Company, the men recessed to have their picture taken one day in the early 1920,s. They posed in front of the bank's new building. The bank had been started by Ashley Home in 1900. It was in business until 1930. Seated, front row left to right, Eliot Poole, Dwight Barbour, C. W. Horne. Seated second row, R. W. Sanders, L. F. Austin, B. M. Robertson. Standing, Dr. J. J Young, Swade Barbour, D. H. McCullers, John T. Talton, Dr. E. H. McCullers, C P. Ellis, W. A. Barnes, R. A. Wall. (Photo courtesy of John Talton)
The Clayton News (Clayton, N.C.)
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Feb. 29, 1956, edition 1
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